The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for peeling the interlayer, or separator, from the top surface of a two-sided adhesive tape. More specifically, the peeling apparatus of the present invention may be used to separate an interlayer from the top surface of an anisotropic conductive film where the bottom surface of the anisotropic conductive film is adhered to a panel member, for example a liquid crystal display element.
In the prior art it is known to utilize anisotropic conductive films when bonding an integrated driver circuit to the electrodes of a panel element such as a liquid crystal display. These anisotropic conductive films generally comprise two-sided adhesive tapes which have an interlayer film or separator applied on both sides, or alternately protecting at least one of the adhesive surfaces. These anisotropic conductive films are then wound on a feed reel.
For example, prior art processes for mounting an integrated driver circuit on panel element electrodes by using an anisotropic conductive film or tape having both adhesive surfaces protected by an interlayer have generally comprised the following steps:
(1) A bottom interlayer or separator on the bottom surface of the tape is peeled off, leaving the bottom surface of the anisotropic conductive film exposed; PA1 (2) The tape is cut to a specific size; PA1 (3) The exposed bottom surface of the sized anisotropic conductive film is adhered to an electrode on a panel element; PA1 (4) A top interlayer or separator is peeled off from the top surface of the tape, leaving the top surface of the anisotropic conductive film exposed; and PA1 (5) The integrated driver circuit is adhered on the exposed top surface of the anisotropic conductive film.
In the prior art, the steps involving peeling the top interlayer or separator away from the anisotropic conductive film in step (4) have been performed manually due to the absence of a viable alternative procedure. Because this step is performed manually, the manufacture of devices such as described above suffers due to the lack of efficiency and precision inherent in such manual processes.
As can be readily recognized, the prior art lacks the advantages of a procedure which allows performing step (4) of peeling the interlayer away from the anisotropic film in an efficient and precise fashion. Also, the prior art fails to lend itself to any degree of automation due to the manual nature of peeling the separator from the conductive film.
The present invention solves these problems by providing an apparatus and method for efficiently and precisely peeling the separator from the top surface of the two-side adhesive tape such as anisotropic conductive film in step (4) without the use of manual labor. By avoiding the use of manual labor, it is possible to avoid the loss of time and money in the manufacture of devices which require the use of two-sided anisotropic films.